I honestly think the DLC was actually a largely completed concept for a playable epilogue sequence but the game was already so legitimately huge, and final bosses so grueling, it got cut because it'd be too much.
Then Konami had the bright idea to monotize the table scraps. Given how huge and long the game is, it just doesn't seem like Mercury to make add-on chapters that are so short. It's not their style of chapter design.
There really isn't much new, though it's an interesting watch at least. First DLC is a lot of platforming that takes place underneath the castle, only 1 new enemy. The second DLC is a single horribly difficult boss fight spread across 2 incredibly short chapters with small platforming bits inbetween. I would've at least expected some new enemies to fight along with new abilities that relate to what happens to Gabriel. There's probably less than 3 hours of content in both including all the times you will die against the final boss.
Kinda weird how differente games resonante with people. For me CV felt like a poor mans God of war throughout the experience hindered by shallow gameplay (oh god the framerate), poor story and overall shitty pacing. It wanted to be epic but for some reason it never felt like it was.
Kinda weird how differente games resonante with people. For me CV felt like a poor mans God of war throughout the experience hindered by shallow gameplay (oh god the framerate), poor story and overall shitty pacing. It wanted to be epic but for some reason it never felt like it was.
I think it's one of the biggest dupes I've ever been tricked into this generation. Haven't enjoyed a single moment of it! Every mechanic is half-assed.
It took a long time for it to click with me and it needed some of the later mechanics earlier to make it more accessible and enjoyable, but when it did click, combined with the fantastic endings, it turned out to be an amazing reboot of the franchise, imho. Cannot wait for the sequel the endings promise.
I think it's one of the biggest dupes I've ever been tricked into this generation. Haven't enjoyed a single moment of it! Every mechanic is half-assed.
Though the art was really there. That's the sad thing. But everyone else about it was...kinda unfinished, unpolished. Just to think about how they looped the 3 tracks they had over and over and over again. Man. CV was always about the music as well. Horrible.
It took a long time for it to click with me and it needed some of the later mechanics earlier to make it more accessible and enjoyable, but when it did click, combined with the fantastic endings, it turned out to be an amazing reboot of the franchise, imho. Cannot wait for the sequel the endings promise.
You used a plural when talking about the ending. Did I miss something? Also I am in the boat of loving this game. I thought it was the best action style game of the generation.
You used a plural when talking about the ending. Did I miss something? Also I am in the boat of loving this game. I thought it was the best action style game of the generation.
Well, there's the final boss ending scenes of course, but there's also another one that sets up the sequel (hopefully) after the credits or so. It's vastly different from the game itself. The DLC's seem to have their own endings that tie in to the nest game as well. The true ending can be found on youtube of course
Played the first chapter and this and it seems alright but man that framerate is bad. Cinematic 24fps framerate indeed. It pains me to know that somewhere deep in Mercurysteams offices is probably a debug pc version of this running at 60fps.
Spoilers for people who haven't finished the game yet of course. But damn, it sounds cool Shock twist indeed. Maybe of the generation for me personally.
I love how the headline for this article is "Big, safe sequels like Uncharted, FIFA and Modern Warfare dominated 2011, but as PS3 and 360 reach maturity, 2012 should be a year of experimentation." and yet every single game on their list is a big safe sequel. What?
I cannot fucking wait. My favorite action adventure game of ALL time. Sequel just needs better frame rate and a PC version so GAF's mighty can respect it this time.
been playing more of this. after not knowing what to think on the first chapter or so im really liking it now.
the game is beautiful, but the frame rate really fucking kills it at certain points. its really a shame because atmosphere is top notch, but chugging frames really ruins the mood.
combat is fun, puzzles are good (not too hard so far, i suck at puzzles). so far so good. its nice to have a good 3D Castlevania title.
Should we expect Ultimate version of the game with all DLC included some time soon? I have been waiting for more than a year to buy this game, I can wait a little longer if such a version will be released.
Should we expect Ultimate version of the game with all DLC included some time soon? I have been waiting for more than a year to buy this game, I can wait a little longer if such a version will be released.
Bought it on clearence from Target, and have to say, First impressions were extremely negative. Combat was okay, but there were areas were enemies were pretty sparse. The dead bog was a terrible level design, who ever thought of it should be fired, especially for putting it so early in the game. Invisible walls everywhere. The game treats you like an idiot (Hold RT Hang on!) And in general its just lacking the feel of Castlevania.
But i just beat the lycan lord, and have to say it has been noticeably improving as the game goes on. One of my big complaints was that exploration seemed pointless since all you ever received were scrolls. But as you get more amulets there becomes something to actually reward you with so exploration gets better. The platforming seems better designed later on. Still doesn't seem very castlevania ish, but i'm heading into the Vampires land now, so hopefully it might actually be set in someplace thats not a random ruin in broad daylight (this sort of setting seems a better fit for night...).
So where the game seemed like a disappointment as was about to quit playing for something else, at least now its where i expected. Hopefully it only gets better from here.
Alright so I picked this bad boy up based on numerous citings that its one of the hidden gems of this generation and I don't know guys.
The game is gorgeous and I love the art direction but man a lot of it seems pretty janky. For instance the combat can look sufficiently flashy and is a decent GOW clone but I don't think it does anything really great. The combos for me at least don't flow like they can in GOW. Also the animations with the platforming section are just straight bad. I just fought the giant ice guy where your climbing up his body and the grappling parts look pretty crazy. Your whole body just goes rigid and continues up a straight line to whatever your linked to. Even traversing the environments I can't help but feel completely disconnected like I am floating a little above them.
I just got to the insides of some tree should I keep going or will there be little to change up my feelings if this is the impression I am taking away from it.
Alright so I picked this bad boy up based on numerous citings that its one of the hidden gems of this generation and I don't know guys.
The game is gorgeous and I love the art direction but man a lot of it seems pretty janky. For instance the combat can look sufficiently flashy and is a decent GOW clone but I don't think it does anything really great. The combos for me at least don't flow like they can in GOW. Also the animations with the platforming section are just straight bad. I just fought the giant ice guy where your climbing up his body and the grappling parts look pretty crazy. Your whole body just goes rigid and continues up a straight line to whatever your linked to. Even traversing the environments I can't help but feel completely disconnected like I am floating a little above them.
I just got to the insides of some tree should I keep going or will there be little to change up my feelings if this is the impression I am taking away from it.
Always keep pressing forward. The game only gets better, and the combo system starts off extremely limited until you start pouring into it. Later bosses will have you doing some unique and tricky stuff to beat them with light and dark power usage.
It pays off big time. The ending is fantastic for this game.
Always keep pressing forward. The game only gets better, and the combo system starts off extremely limited until you start pouring into it. Later bosses will have you doing some unique and tricky stuff to beat them with light and dark power usage.
It pays off big time. The ending is fantastic for this game.
Started this game today, what a beautiful looking game. I just reached the lake, and am very much looking forward to what's up in store for me as I progress.
Started this game today, what a beautiful looking game. I just reached the lake, and am very much looking forward to what's up in store for me as I progress.
Even long after release I'd say it's one of the best looking console games available, although the questionable framerate certainly takes it down a few notches.
I don't get the hate the DLC gets (at least, the second one). It's overpriced, sure, but the second DLC has a boss which is significantly more challenging / interesting than the final boss of the main game. The story sucked, but that boss was *tough*.
Finished the game last night. The Dracolich was kinda tedious, but otherwise it was a great game. Bought the DLC after completing the main game, so I'm working my way through chapter XIII now.
Glad this got a sequel, I loved the first one, minus the last chapter and the DLC which was terrible. One thing I hope they improve is the new game plus, I wish it was easier to pick up and hit continue and be right where you left off, instead of automatically at the last level.
Isn't that a weird thing? It gets pretty annoying especially when you're doing trials or whatever.
OP has so many broken links, lol... guess it's time for me to make a new banner out of pure boredom even though the thread doesn't get a whole lot of activity these days. I imagine that it might pick up some steam though as we get closer to LOS2 and people are like hurrr guess I need to finally play the awesome first game.
What are you guys talking about? When you complete it, it sends you to the main menu and from there you can just select world map and then bam just chose which chapter than what level you want.
What are you guys talking about? When you complete it, it sends you to the main menu and from there you can just select world map and then bam just chose which chapter than what level you want.
Finished last night. The LOS2 trailer got me so pumped that I had to finally check out the first game - even though it had been sitting around on my desk for a couple months. I thought it was a pretty decent hack and slash adventure/action game. However it was pretty fucking rough around the edges and in need of some serious refinement, in my opinion. This didn't stop me from enjoying what was there, and there definitely is some good stuff.
I know this has already been touched on over and over, but I really did find some of the GoW and SotC elements to be a little too overt. What bothered me most about it wasn't its presence, but the lack of something else instead. It feels like a wasted opportunity to provide more original styles of gameplay and encounters that were a little more unique and fitting to the Castlevania world. The colossus battles were all pretty weak, minus their presentation. Platforming was jank. Well, using the cross to swing and repel was neat, and it worked pretty well, but jumping was bunk... losing your grip on an edge for no reason (for the 8th time) isn't that fun either.
Story-wise can't say much. I thought it was alright, but
the whole "I murdered my wife against my will
and now I'm gonna rage through some levels" story felt tiresome and garnered little enthusiasm from me. It's slightly awkward as well given the very well tempered and respectful character that Gabriel is.
It's told to us again and again that Gabriel is pure of heart, and his wife of all people would probably account best for this. But Zobeck keeps telling us how dark he is, and how horrible a person he's become. I kept thinking "who the fuck is he talking about?" because I just don't see it. Even at the very end he's harping on about love and forgiveness. I get his immediate story arc, but it's hard to buy the idea that this puritanical warrior of God and good values somehow becomes Dracula - the epitome of sin and scheming. It's cool that they want to provide an origins story for Dracula, but when I think of Dracula I think of dark, cold-hearted cruelness. Something mysterious and a bit ethereal. If you explain him too much, or give him too much humanity, he starts to lose those things that define him. He's cool because he's inexplicable and otherworldly. Being told that this wood chopping warrior of good virtue and kind heart is somehow en route to becoming the most sinister character in the mythos is quite the stretch by any means.
Well those are my thoughts about it anyways.
Everyone seems to love the art direction for this game and it's easily the best part. Though I did find several of the environments to fall flat with poor lighting. Not all of them mind you... but some places like the forested brown areas, and the final level of platforming were a bit bland. The architecture throughout the game was pretty great though, and the soundtrack was awesome. I wish there was a real throwback to the OST other than the music box stage though.
All in all, a decent experience, but not one I'm willing to revisit. LOS2 however, still holds my attention, and I'm eagerly awaiting more information about the game. If a trailer can do that to me after feeling this lukewarm about the first game, that's pretty awesome. Here's hoping that Mercurysteam really nails it this time.
I love this game (not the dlc, that I haven't played). It begins slow, and continuously grows in Epicness, until you defeat the first GREAT enemy (I don't want to make spoilers). Then, the game relaxes, but begins another time to be more and more EPIC, and the final is so great
I'm a huge fan of traditional CV and thought that this was a nice little side-series or whatever you want to call it. The ending is weird, but if MercuryStream is only making LoS2 and the 3DS game before moving on to something else, I don't mind them going outside the lines so much.
The only real problem I had with the game is that everything feels so plodding and tedious after a while. Despite really enjoying what the game presents, I felt like it needed to pick up the pace the entire time. Not cut actual content or anything like that, just eliminate the perpetual feeling of slowness that lingers throughout the entire game.
That's just my two cents though - I was reading through the thread and didn't see anyone else with that particular complaint. The music is spread pretty thin and the combat can get pretty repetitive after a while too, but I didn't think it was anything bad enough to point out or complain about. Looking forward to the other 2 games next year.
Playing through this, need help. How do I avoid the Ice Titan's hands when he is swatting at me because I'm smacking his little blue circles?
I try to shimmy away from his incoming hand, but I'm never quick enough. I watched a Youtube vid, and the dude was JUMPING from side to side to avoid him, but I for the life of me cannot get the evade (LS + X) move to work to replicate it.
This was one of my favorite games of 2010. Easily much more enjoyable overall than GoW3. The only action game that beat it (in some respects) was Bayonetta, but the aesthetics of that game were hard to get over. Can't wait for LoS2.
I know this has already been touched on over and over, but I really did find some of the GoW and SotC elements to be a little too overt. What bothered me most about it wasn't its presence, but the lack of something else instead. It feels like a wasted opportunity to provide more original styles of gameplay and encounters that were a little more unique and fitting to the Castlevania world.
What it's "lacking" compared to the GoW games is the ability to simply mash your way through most of the fights. I'm also kind of tired of the GoW comparisons since the Castlevania games were not "Metroidvania" until SoTN and LoS is more like the earlier 8 and 16-bit Castlevanias, but in 3D. The main thing both games have in common is that they use chain like weapons. The other issue is that GoW didn't invent this kind of 3D Action/Adventure genre. Devil May Cry did. It's also not Castlevania's first foray into the 3D realm, although the games found on the N64 aren't worth remembering.
This was one of my favorite games of 2010. Easily much more enjoyable overall than GoW3. The only action game that beat it (in some respects) was Bayonetta, but the aesthetics of that game were hard to get over. Can't wait for LoS2.
What it's "lacking" compared to the GoW games is the ability to simply mash your way through most of the fights. I'm also kind of tired of the GoW comparisons since the Castlevania games were not "Metroidvania" until SoTN and LoS is more like the earlier 8 and 16-bit Castlevanias, but in 3D. The main thing both games have in common is that they use chain like weapons. The other issue is that GoW didn't invent this kind of 3D Action/Adventure genre. Devil May Cry did. It's also not Castlevania's first foray into the 3D realm, although the games found on the N64 aren't worth remembering.
There were some tedious gameplay decisions but overall I really enjoyed it. In terms of combat there wasn't much new but what was there was solid, big movelist and lots to do.
The idea of playing well to fill up the tension guage which let you fill up the light/shadow gauges was really good I think. It made me strive to play better so I could get more health or power.
The game really picked up for me towards the end in particular, the chapter before the last boss one was very epic. The story I really enjoyed as well
where we basically see how Dracula came to be as well as his relationship with Death
.
Visuals/soundtrack were top notch. I hope they add save spots instead of breaking chapters into tiny pieces in the sequel, will make the game flow better.
Do we know if the protagonist is Gabriel in the sequel? The Spike awards teaser ended with a white haired man challenging him, kinda hoping its Alucard.
Just completed this. I'm on the fence about getting the DLC. This was a very long linear game and I feel kind of burned out from it, but I hate to wait too long and just blow off getting the DLC. About how long are they? Are they worth it?
Just completed this. I'm on the fence about getting the DLC. This was a very long linear game and I feel kind of burned out from it, but I hate to wait too long and just blow off getting the DLC. About how long are they? Are they worth it?
